Saturday, October 14, 2017

I'm tickled to
announce release of WILD LILY, just reviewed by The
Romance Reviews with 5 Stars!

Beginning a
Victorian romance series, Those Notorious Americans stars a
family ready to charm all of Europe with their wit, their good
looks…and their fortune.

Here’s a limerick
to typify the series:

Find an heiress
a duke, a marquess or count,

A baron'll
certainly do, never doubt.

But a prince'd
be too high

A price to pay.
Why?

Cuz love's rare
for a gel without clout.

Money can buy
anything. Can't it? When American robber baron Killian Hanniford
decides to expand his business empire, he sails to Europe in 1877 and
takes his family with him.

His two
daughters—Lily and Ada—are beauties, accomplished and educated.
They want for nothing, except a chance to find husbands who love them
for themselves, not their dowries.

His niece,
Marianne, is a charming widow who wants for nothing…except perhaps
an amusing and temporary lover.

Killian’s son,
Pierce, is young, impetuous and too ruthless for any young woman to
take on as a husband.

Even Killian
himself—without a wife for many years but increasingly bored by his
mistress—is shocked to learn he can fall in love.

Tragic, isn’t it,
to learn that money can buy anything… but love?

WILD LILY,
Book 1, October 10 2017

DARING WIDOW,
Book 2, February 2018

SCANDALOUS
COUNTESS, Book 3, Summer 2018

WILD
LILY, Book One, Those Notorious Americans

Money
can buy anything, can’t it? Those brash Americans, their dollars
and charms work wonders. Until they learn that money can buy
anything...but love.

Lily
Hanniford has all the qualities an impoverished nobleman could want
in a wife. She’s beautiful, educated and funny. Too
bad, she has a penchant for riding astride like a man. Too bad, she’s
an American with a shrewd, wily father. But she’s unwilling to be
sold to the highest-ranking nobleman.
She wants a purpose in life…other than presiding over a drafty
castle and a loveless marriage bed. Then she accidentally meets a man
she can’t resist.

Julian
Ash, Marquess of Chelton, doesn’t need a wife. He needs luck at
cards…or a way to persuade Killian Hanniford to pay more for his
family’s shipping line. But Lily is charming and her wild streak
appeals to Julian who has always followed the society’s rules. Now
he discovers that being wild with Lily is not only fun, it’s
necessary to his life. And so is she.

They
struggle to throw convention to the wind. But can they be wildly
happy together if they can’t heal old wounds?

They
ran like children along the stone path up to the servants back door
of his country house. It was unlocked and Julian thrust it open,
pulling Lily inside.

“Come.
Here’s the kitchen. No fire, but it’s warm and dry. Sit there.”
He looked her over. “You’re drenched. Hell.”

He
took four huge strides, disappearing into another room and clanging
about. If he kept up that racket, the whole house would soon be
awake.

She
rubbed her arms, grateful to be out of the storm, but wary of
servants who might have been roused.

When
he returned, he had his hands full of toweling.

Grateful
to be rid of the blanket that smelled of horse, she shrugged it off
and folded it. He hurried to wrap a large towel over her head.

She
giggled. “You could wake the dead the way you scoured that room.”

“My
housekeeper is quite deaf.”

“You’re
kidding.”

“Not
at all. She’s never been quick to any sound.” He scrubbed her
head with too much dedication.

“Ooof.”
She picked up a corner of the towel to glare at him.

“Sorry.
You need to dry your hair.” He rubbed her scalp.

She
clamped her fingers around his wrist. “If you don’t stop, sir,
I’ll be bald!”

“Sorry.”
He bent to peer at her. “Take off your jacket.”

She
balked. She had removed her corset for this adventure and if she took
off her jacket, it would be apparent that she was a rather loose
woman. In more ways than one. “Ah. I don’t wish to. Unless… Do
you have anything to replace it?”

“Not
yet. I will.” He dropped another towel around her neck.

“Splendid.
I’ll wait.”

“No.
You will not.” He began to pick at the buttons on her coat.

She
slapped his hands away. “Stop that.”

“You
do it then. I’ll not have you die of cold at the risk of a layer of
clothing.”

She
clutched her stock to her throat. And true, it was wet, but she had
few choices here. “It’s not just any layer.”

Confusion
overtook his brow. “What?”

“Can
you please find me another coat?”

“I
will if you promise to begin to unbutton that now.”

She
tsked. “Hard bargainer.”

He
stood. “I’ll be back with brandy and when I do, you’ll have
that jacket off.”

“Fine,
fine.” Fretting over that, she undid her last two buttons. Beneath
it, the cold cotton of her blouse was damp. Under that, her skin was
ablaze with the delicious nature of her predicament. But what Julian
didn’t know was a good thing. “Hurry, please.”

He
left her, ran up the steps and away. In the silent house, she
marveled that no one had yet heard them. How many servants did he
have? And were they all deaf?

She
shrugged out of her jacket, covering her wet blouse and her beading
nipples with the ends of a towel. Shivering in the damp cotton and
trying to focus on how soon she’d be warm didn’t work.

Julian
returned within minutes, a large coat in one hand and a man’s
shirt—his?—in
the other.

“I
can’t wear that.” She had admired his form, his broad chest, his
muscular build. He was fit, firm, a marvelous example of manhood, but
she was more than adequately endowed. And his shirt, tailored as it
was, would not adequately cover her attributes.

“Why
not?” He held it up. “Perfectly fine linen. Clean.”

She
ground her teeth. “It won’t fit.”

“Of
course, it will.” He quirked a brow. “Oh. Um. Won’t it?”

He
had this odd expression on his face which by infinite degrees turned
to recognition and then, he laughed.

She
tapped her foot on the stone floor. “You’re not helping, dear
sir.”

Still
chuckling, he stepped toward her and put his hands around her waist
to draw her to her feet. “I see that. I am sorry.”

She
couldn’t help but cuff him. “Take me back.”

“Wet?”

“As
I am, yes! Now.” She took his hand and marched them both toward the
window.

But
lightning streaked the sky and a loud boom shook the house.

She
lurched backward.

Against
his all too solid chest.

He
embraced her, one hand in her hair, one cupped her nape and the lure
of his warmth was irresistible. She sank against him, reveling in his
support. He was assurance and beneath his riding pants, he was
aroused.

She
didn’t want to move or even breathe. Could he find her attractive?
Still? Even though she’d told him at the opera to ignore her? He
certainly did find her company appealing. Much as she’d always
declared she’d never tolerate a man as demanding as her father, she
liked a man with a mind of his own.

This
man.

“I
like you,” she told him astonishing herself for saying what she
felt for him.

He
trailed his fingers up into her hairline and turned her head toward
him.

“Do
you?” he asked, his voice wistful. “God knows I like you.”

Her
heart did a little jig. “Now, I know, too.”

“We
are neither of us very clever.”

“But
honest.”

“Lily,”
he said her name, a plea more breath than sound. “Lily, darling.
Shall we be more than honest?”

“Oh,
Julian.” In the dim light, she could make out the fire in his
beguiling eyes. To wait any longer to taste him would be a waste.
Casting caution to the wind, she swung totally into his embrace and
pushed up on her toes. She slid her arms around his shoulders, the
towel falling to the floor, and with only hot urgency between them,
she said, “Yes, let’s be.”